Thank You For The Venom
by Lea'sBiatch
Summary: Harry, Hermione and Ron are sent on a task for the Order of the Phoenix, which means tolerating Snape, a new member of the order and another life threatening enounter with the Dark Arts. Can they protect the Order?
1. Mysterious Letter

Thank You For The Venom

Disclaimer – I own none of the characters featured in this story other than Sarah Melena who is a creation all of my own. The rest belongs to good old JKR. The title of this story is of course the name of a legendary song by My Chemical Romance. This fic has nothing to do with that song, it just seems to fit.

Harry awoke on a warm Thursday morning, the sun gently peeking through the drapes of his four poster bed, beckoning him out from under the sheets. Unwilling to emerge from his comfortable haven, he turned away and snuggled deeper under his heavy quilt. The sun shone ever so slightly brighter, not one to be perturbed by Harry's rude greeting. Eventually, the sun prevailed and Harry pulled back his drapes and lifted himself into the waking world of magic.

Breakfast was as usual a very busy affair, people shouting and chattering, running into the Hall late and half dressed and of course the owls delivering the morning post. Harry never received mail. Not ever. So, naturally, Harry was rather surprised when an envelope addressed to him bounced off his nose and into his jam laden slice of toast. He didn't recognise the slanted handwriting but he knew he'd seen it before. Ron leaned in, ready to read over Harry's shoulder. As soon as Harry had removed the letter he realised it was from Lupin and immediately immersed himself in the short paragraphs.

Harry,

Hope the year has gone well so far for you and the others. Everything is as good as can be expected with all of us, although there has been some interesting and potentially harmful news received. Due to this, I've requested that you Hermione and the Weasleys head here with the Order over the half term holidays. It's nothing to worry about; everything will be explained upon your arrival.

All the best,

Remus.

Harry read through it again and passed it quickly to Hermione, knowing full well that Ron would have been reading over his shoulder. He watched Hermione's sparkling eyes dash over one line then the next, awaiting her verdict.

"What do you suppose that's all about then?" she asked, her eyes flicking up to her two friends. Ron shrugged and emptied his glass of pumpkin juice.

"Can't be anything that bad. Lupin said not to worry." He concluded with a lazy stretch. Harry didn't say anything, he and Hermione shared a knowing glance that it would indeed be something for them to worry about.

The rest of the half term went irritatingly slow for Harry. His mind was constantly plagued by irrational thoughts of what Lupin could be talking about. Every now and again he would discuss the situation with Ron and Hermione but they had so little information that they really didn't have much to discuss at all. When the time finally came for them to depart from Hogwarts, Harry was relieved and more than a little apprehensive about what he would have to encounter this year.

"Another year a close brush with death." Ron muttered as he, Harry, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley children entered Sirius' house for their first meeting with the Order of the Phoenix.


	2. The List

Chapter Two – The List

With tea having been made by Mrs Weasley, Ginny was lead upstairs as she was still considered too young to be present during the meetings of the Order. Harry sat next to a dishevelled looking Lupin with Ron by his side and Hermione sat opposite him next to Tonks, whose hair was electric blue and spiked. Unfortunately, Harry was in Snape's prime glaring position and he seemed even more sour than usual if that were even possible, he must have seen a child smiling or something on his way from Hogwarts. Dumbledore arose fluidly, a graceful movement Harry wouldn't usually have expected from a man of his age. He gazed quickly around at the faces sat before him before he began his harangue.

"As some of you are already aware, the Dark Lord has acquired knowledge of our existence and various plans. How this came to be is yet to be discovered, but I'm sure all shall make itself apparent in due course. Thanks to the excellent work of Severus, we now have a little more information." At this point, Dumbledore lowered his head slightly and all members seemed to start paying a little more attention, Harry included. "The Death Eaters have been doing a little espionage of their own and have compiled a short list of names. Names which we have struggled to keep secret. I have here said list and those who feature will be assigned a guardian of sorts."

Harry swallowed hard. He heard Ron do the same. The tension as Dumbledore lifted the small scrap of parchment was immense. Lupin put a hand on Harry's arm not just to settle Harry's nerves but also his own. Harry would bet his Firebolt that his name was on that list, it never failed to astonish him how he was always at the epicentre of these horrors. That knowledge loosened a band of tension in his chest and he patted Lupin's hand which he noticed was trembling. Dumbledore began to read out the list of names.

"Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Molly Weasley, Hermione Granger and Sarah Melena." Dumbledore rushed the names as though dwelling on any one of them would cause them to drop dead. Harry caught sight of Hermione, one hand clasped over her mouth and the other held tight by Tonks. Ron had paled a few shades and was looking worriedly at his mother who was resting her head on Arthur Weasley's shoulder. Professor McGonagall looked entirely unaffected by the mention of her name. Harry hadn't a clue who Sarah Melena was, but there were a few new members that he didn't know so didn't trouble himself. He was deeply shocked by the omission of his name; thankful to once not be in the firing range. Dumbledore went on to announce who would be protecting the five unfortunate members.

"I have come to the decision that Molly Weasley should be protected by all members of her family excluding of course young Ginny. Remus, you shall be under the protection of Tonks, Minerva I shall see that no harm befalls you, Severus you shall watch over Sarah and I think Miss Granger you will be safe with Harry, Ron and Sirius. I am terribly sorry to have to bring such news. On a far lighter note however there are three new Order members for you all to become acquainted with. One being Sarah Melena, a sixth year student at Hogwarts." Dumbledore motioned in the direction of a girl sitting on Snape's right. She had jet black hair tied in loose plaits that fell in front of her shoulders and deathly pale skin. Her eyes were striking blue, like those of a husky dog, and her lips were painted a brilliant red. Harry wondered how he'd never noticed her in school. "Elpha Von Nere, a young witch recently passed her auror training, with flying colours might I add," Elpha was tall and slender with a silver ring on each delicate finger. Her hair was long, wavy and blonde and her eyes jade green. "And last but by no means least, Lex Entner a highly respected worker at the Ministry of Magic and a close friend of mine for many a year." Lex was ultimately menacing. He had thick set features and dark brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail which reached his lower ribs. He was very tall and muscular with a stern expression. "If we may, I would like to adjourn this meeting and gather again early tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure you will all agree that it has been a very tiring day." With that said, Dumbledore stole away with a short nod of his head.


	3. Abduction

Chapter Three – Abduction

The Order had remained seated after Dumbledore's departure apart from Hermione and Ron who had left the room with Mrs Weasley; Harry was eagerly listening to stories about spying and battling with the Death Eaters. He had noticed that Ron was particularly quiet, but decided that it would probably be best to let him be for the moment. He was most likely still in shock about his mother. Harry knew that he couldn't do much to help him until the reality had at least sunk in. Tonks was in the middle of describing a particularly nasty trial she had to face during her auror training, to which Elpha was listening intently, when Mr Weasley came and knelt beside Harry. He wore a smile on his lips but his eyes were a solemn nakedness.

"Harry, I wondered if you, Ron and Hermione wouldn't mind trying to build a friendship with Sarah Melena. She's in the same year as you at Hogwarts. I know she's a Slytherin but she's not all bad when you get talking to her. I'm almost certain Dumbledore will see to it that the four of you spend a lot more time together." Mr Weasley grasped Harry's shoulder and smiled a little more broadly, a little less genuine. Harry felt so sorry for him and Mrs Weasley. He did after all know what it was like to be wanted by the Death Eaters. Mr Weasley looked back at him, still grinning then patted his shoulder. Harry smiled back sheepishly and nodded his head. Mr Weasley left the room presumably to see his wife.

Harry stole a glance at Sarah. She was watching Tonks tell her story but clearly not listening. Snape pushed a glass in her direction and caught Harry's gaze. He scowled and Harry quickly turned his attention away, but could find nothing to fix it on. Hermione and Ron returned to the room saving Harry. He waved stupidly at them, immediately wishing he hadn't.

"Hey. I can't believe I'm on the list." Hermione said with a weak smile. Her eyes were slightly red, she had been crying.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. What could possibly harm you with me and Ron looking after you?" Harry joked. Hermione smiled and gave him a quick hug.

"Dad says we need to make friends with that Sarah girl. I don't see why, she's a Slytherin. Anybody fancy calling her over?" Ron asked soberly. Harry honestly didn't feel like trying to get her attention while Snape was in close proximity and such a foul mood. He hadn't even spoken yet, surely he was about to explode.

"I'll go for it. Can't be any worse than being a target for the Death Eaters." Hermione sounded incredibly jovial but there was still something in her manner that betrayed her. Harry smiled all the same, appreciative of even the smallest of the smallest of humour.

"Watch it." Ron warned quietly. Harry looked across the table to see Snape muttering angry almost silent words to Sarah. "Even if she is a Slytherin she deserves to be saved from his Potion breath." Ron nudged Hermione forward. She gave him a dirty look and walked gracefully around the table. She stopped between Snape and Sarah and smiled benignly at the girl. She was completely ignoring Snape's existence. Sarah smiled back and after a short while the two girls headed back over.

Mr Weasley was right. Once Harry had started to make conversation with Sarah, he discovered that she wasn't bad at all. He might have even gone as far to say that she was friendly! He and Ron shared a small room on the first floor of Sirius' house. The walls were a pastel blue and looked quite freshly painted which was a great contrast to the ancient dried up paint peeling away from the ceiling and door. Harry had had to take top bunk because Ron was terrified that a great load of the peeling paint would fall onto his head during the night. Fred and George shared an identical one on the floor above. The twins had come down into Harry and Ron's room with Hermione, Ginny and Sarah. To say Harry was cramped would be a huge understatement. He sat hunched on the top bunk with his knees clasped to his chest accompanied by Hermione and Ginny who were in much the same position. The three Weasley boys sat on the bottom bunk and Sarah was lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling. In the corner Hedwig cooed every now again as if joining the conversation. Fred and George were in the middle of a highly amusing story about a new idea for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes when Harry heard creaking footsteps on the stairs.

"Sh!" He hushed everybody, not wanting to be caught awake by any of the adults, especially not Snape. He dove under the quilt and pretended to be asleep as the slow footsteps approached the bedroom door. Ginny was giggling somewhere to his left. Harry stifled his own laughter as the door squeaked open. A deep muffled voice indicated to Harry that they'd been caught. There was lots of shuffling around while everybody was sent back to their beds. When the shuffling and mumbling had stopped Harry poked his head out from under the stifling covers and inhaled a cold, refreshing breath of air before settling to sleep.

"HARRY! RON!"

Harry sat up and yawned. Somebody was bashing on the door. "RONALD! HARRY! ARE YOU IN THERE!" Mrs Weasley was shrieking from the other side of the door. Harry called out and she burst into the room her face full of panic and stained with tears. She gave a small yelp and gave both he and Ron bone crunching hugs.

"What's going on?" Ron asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Hermione and Sarah aren't in their room! And nobody's seen Remus!"


End file.
